


The Evil You Know

by ForeverFighting



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Bullying, Death Eaters, F/M, Falling In Love, Family, Fear, Forbidden Love, Hate to Love, Isolation, Romance, Slytherin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2018-09-16 02:06:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9268931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForeverFighting/pseuds/ForeverFighting
Summary: In Draco's 6th year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, he arrives on the Hogwarts Express with a dark secret, and an oath to fulfil.This story explores how Draco experiences the period of time covered in 'The Half-Blood Prince'.





	1. Impossible Challenge

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you are enjoying the story so far!

Draco frowned down at the parchment, quill scratching a groove in the paper absently. Professor Flitwick was yammering away in his squeaky voice about nothing that Draco cared about. He had more important things on his mind than charms right now. 

Last week Crabbe and Goyle had helped him to move the rickety cabinet that had trapped Montague for all that time last year. Together they had pushed and carried it all the way up to the 7th floor corridor. They had tried to levitate it but had immediately crashed it into a wall and Draco didn't want to damage it any more. He hadn't trusted Crabbe and Goyle with the knowledge of how to open the room of requirement, those idiots might blab and then he'd lose the room as a safe place to work on his project. Of course Potter and his pals knew how to get in but now the secret gang he'd set up last year had been disbanded he had no need to go back there. Even if Potter did try to get in, the room's rules wouldn't let him find Draco's work. 

Draco had found out about the room of requirement last year as he had been instrumental in catching Potter and his geek club. But he had figured out how it worked all on his own. Once he had tested it and was convinced it was secure he had put his plan in motion. Every time he thought about his plan he got a sick twist in his stomach. Over the summer holidays Voldemort and his death eaters had been using Malfoy Manor as a base of operations and they had not been welcome house guests. With his father in Azkaban after the fiasco at the ministry at the end of the last school year, all of Voldemort's anger had been squarely directed at his family. Draco had fantasised about becoming a death eater for years. But now it had happened he just wanted to run away and hide. But that wasn't an option. His mother was more or less a hostage and if he didn't carry out his task he knew Voldemort wouldn't hesitate to kill her and then him as well for good measure. 

Now the cabinet was in place he was stumped. He didn't know how it worked let alone how to fix it. Flitwick suddenly started clapping his hands energetically and Draco looked up to see what the fuss was. Standing next to the professor was a tall 7th year Slytherin. Draco remembered her name as Pandora... something. He scowled when he remembered she was a half blood outcast who must have been sorted into Slytherin by accident somehow. She smiled nervously until her eyes met Draco's. She lowered her gaze under the force of his sneer and turned to face Flitwick. 

"The Protean charm is a very advanced NEWT level charm. I don't expect you all to master it, however the theory behind the charm is fascinating and I think it will be rather fun to study. So lets get started. Dora, would you please give us a little demonstration of what the charm is capable of producing?" 

" Of course. The Protean charm allows you to affect objects at a distance by linking them with another object. Once the link is in place if you cast a spell on one object the other will exhibit the same effect. This charm is easiest performed on 2 identical objects." 

Draco whispered to Pansy on his right. "Why is this mudblood leading our lesson?" 

"Apparently she's top of Flitwick's year 7 class. I reckon Flitwick is trying to be nice to her because she is socially retarded, or maybe he can't do the spell himself!" She sniggered. 

Draco watched the girl cast the charm on the 2 goblets on the desk at the front of the class. She then cast an engorgement charm on one making both increase in size simultaneously. This gained a couple of gasps from the Hufflepuffs sat at the front of the class. The girl had cast the Protean charm out loud to demonstrate, but the 2nd charm had been performed silently, which is a feat not all adults could achieve. She was clearly talented. After reducing the goblets to their original size she continued her presentation. Draco was now paying attention to her every word. 

"Now this is not the extent of what this charm is capable of. Its associative properties allow it to affect adjacent objects as long as they are in contact with the charmed object. For example, if I were to pour the exact same measure of water into each goblet, I would be able to transfer the effects of a spell on the water in one goblet to the water in the other even though the water itself is not enchanted in any way." 

To demonstrate she poured water into each goblet and proceeded to turn the water in both goblets to wine. "Consequently if I was to use an anti-charm on the goblets I would be able to produce opposite reactions in each object rather than mirroring the effect." 

She emptied the goblets and replaced them with 2 new unenchanted ones. She then appeared to cast the Protean charm backwards which seemed impossibly complicated and Draco noticed everyone sharing the same confused expression. 

"Contrary to the normal version of the charm, this anti-charm produces an opposite effect." 

She increased the size of one goblet and the other one shrank. 

"Unlike the straightforward version, this charm is much harder to get right and to maintain. This is because magical energy moves between the objects via the magical link of the charm. I have a better way to demonstrate this. This time I will pour more water in one goblet than the other. If I increase the volume magically in one goblet, the other will go down as though I am pouring the water from one to the other, effectively transporting the liquid." 

She continued to talk as Draco sat frozen in his chair, mouth open. She was demonstrating the exact spell he needed for the cabinet. But it was so complicated, he hadn't even heard of anti-charms before. Professor Flitwick piped up. 

"Yes! Excellent, excellent! I think that's probably more than enough. Thank you Dora dear, you may go." 

Draco watched her leave, a beacon of hope walking away. He had to learn how to do that spell. What followed was the most Draco had ever concentrated in a Charms lesson in his lifetime. After the lesson ended he told Crabbe and Goyle to go on without him. He approached Flitwick's desk. 

"Professor? I really enjoyed today's lesson. Will we be learning the anti-charm as well as the Protean charm?" 

"Oh Draco, yes it was rather good wasn't it. Dora is so talented I couldn't deprive my 6th years of a little show! I'm afraid she got rather carried away though. The Protean charm is a part of the NEWT syllabus but the anti-charm is beyond what I usually include. To be honest I rarely get the majority of the class to master the regular charm and I'm only so-so at performing the anti-charm myself. I won't always have Dora to back me up! Let's focus on the charm theory for now. There's a lot to get through you know!" 

"Of course sir. Is there any reading I can do on the anti-charm? Just to satisfy my curiosity, if I have the time of course." 

"Yes, I don't see the harm in a little reading. Don't feel disheartened if it doesn't make all that much sense though will you?" 

"I'm sure I'll be fine sir." 

Flitwick jotted down the titles of a few books and signed it telling Draco to ask the Librarian to fetch these from the restricted section. Draco wanted to ask why they were in the restricted section but he didn't want to risk Flitwick changing his mind. 

Madam Pince fetched Draco the books with only a small amount of grumbling. They turned out to be mainly long scrolls covered in intricate diagrams along with a single large tome filled with what appeared to be calculations. He had dropped Arithmancy after the end of last year but he had achieved Exceeds Expectation in the OWL so he hoped he'd be able to at least understand the concepts the tome covered. 

Over the next few weeks, Draco neglected his other subjects while trying to understand the Protean charm. He had taken to studying in the library after his lackeys kept trying to engage him in conversation when he sat in the common room. He regretted having shown some of them the dark mark on the Hogwarts Express. Ever since a few of the more zealous of his inner circle had started trying to compete for his approval and impress him. Any other time he would have been riding high on the attention but the feeling as though Voldemort was standing behind him, one hand on his shoulder, kept him focused on the task at hand. 

Day after day he returned to the book, the diagrams rolled out around him for reference. But it still didn't make any sense to him. It might as well have been written in gobbledegook. The fact that the 7th year half-blood had made it look so easy infuriated him even more. If Flitwick refused to teach the anti-charm, how had she learned it, Flitwick must be playing favourites. Although he had said that he was shaky on performing the charm himself. 

Scowling to himself, Draco picked up the crumpled scrolls and tucked them under his arm. Grabbing the book as well he turned around and ran straight into the very same 7th year he was grumbling about. Pandora Tighe looked just as angry as Draco did until she saw who had bumped into her. Seeing Draco's expression she stepped back an apologised, even though he was the one who had walked into her. 

"Careful there!" He said, dropping the scowl. Grinning slightly he continued. 

"I have an idea how you can make up for your mistake" 

Dora sighed expecting Draco to start the tirade of insults she usually got from other Slytherin's even though they were in the same house. Somehow that seemed to make them hate her more. 

"You were the one who demonstrated that Protean charm for Flitwick a couple of weeks ago, weren't you?" 

"That's me" 

"Flitwick wouldn't explain the anti-charm, said it was too complicated which was rather insulting, to be honest. Explain it for me, Pandora." 

Using her name gave Draco's request a rather awkward tone, as though he had forgotten how to talk to humans. Dora laughed a little which brought the frown back. 

"Oh, you meant it! Okay... " She went on to explain as quickly as she could the theory behind the Protean anti-charm and how casting it was a little more complicated than simply doing the motion backwards for various reasons. 

Draco considered what she said carefully, his grey eyes drifting off to stare off the to left. 

"What about anti-charms has caught your interest if you don't mind me asking?" 

"You can't deny it is an interesting piece of magic? I'll be honest, having Flitwick deny me may have sparked my interest. Also the fact the library's references on the subject were held in the restricted section. How could I resist?" 

"Ah, so you are trying to learn a beyond NEWT level spell just because you were told you couldn't." 

"Isn't that why you learned it?" 

"I learned it because I could, nobody doubted my ability." She raised her eyebrow. 

Draco scowled and stormed off. This amused Dora no end. Each time she saw Draco in the corridor she whispered: "How's the anti-charm coming along?" Each time she was rewarded with a scowl or an insult. One day she really struck a nerve and Draco got up really close and growled in her ear "You will stop mentioning that or you will seriously regret it" 

"What can you do Malfoy?" Laughing, "I'm already ostracised from the house and none of the other houses will speak to me because I'm a Slytherin. Do your worst." 

 

His thin bony fingers tapped against the decrepit wooden surface of the vanishing cabinet towering over Draco. 

"Is it ready Draco? Have you fulfilled your oath?" 

"Yes my Lord." 

Voldemort stepped into the cabinet and Dora stepped forward out of nowhere and locked the cabinet door carefully. She turned to Draco, smiling before drawing something from her pocket. It was a tiny replica of the vanishing cabinet, identical in every way except size. She put the tiny cabinet on the floor to her right next to the one containing Lord Voldemort. With no wand in her hand, she gestured silently the motions of an engorgement charm. The tiny cabinet started to grow. At the same time, the other cabinet started shrinking. With their sizes fully reversed Dora picked up the tiny cabinet to her left. She opened the door and a miniscule Lord Voldemort walked out onto the palm of her hand. 

"You don't have to be scared of him anymore." 

Draco laughed. Leaving tiny Voldemort behind, Draco took Dora's hand and together they walked through the door into the lavish gardens of Malfoy Manor. Turning towards her, he said: 

"Thank you, Dora, you saved my life." 

"I would do anything for you Draco." 

She leaned in and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back deeply. 

Waking suddenly, Draco sat up in his four-poster bed in the Slytherin boy's dormitory. The warm fuzzy afterglow of the dream gave way to confusion and annoyance. Why had he dreamt about kissing someone who infuriated him on a daily basis, firstly by being a Slytherin half-blood, and secondly for being better at magic than him? He couldn't shake the feeling of her lips on his, the dream had been so vivid. Lying back down he allowed himself to replay the dream, imagining the kiss once more. There was no harm in fantasizing about her.

In his head, it didn't matter if she was a half-blood. 


	2. If I could

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco can't help but see Dora in a different light after dreaming about kissing her. Reality, however, is not as easy...

The next day Draco was sat with his inner circle in the Great Hall for lunch. He was starting to tire of all of their attempts to impress him. A fifth year whose name he couldn't remember was bragging about cursing a second year Hufflepuff in the corridor that morning. His pathetic chest beating really got on Draco's nerves and he launched into a tirade about how they didn't know the first thing about 'real' curses and how he had learned things they didn't even know were possible.  

Right at that moment, Dora walked by their table. Overhearing his rant she failed to stifle a laugh.  

"What are you laughing at? Loser!" Said Pansy.  

"Oh, just the audacity of someone boasting about their skills when they can't even perform a simple anti-charm!"  

"What the fuck are you talking about weirdo? You aren't even worthy enough to speak to Draco, half-blood freak! You don't belong at this school let alone in Slytherin!"  

Dora turned and walked away, Pansy still shouting obscenities at her back.  

"Wait here, all of you." Hissed Draco. "I'll make sure she doesn’t bother us again."  

He followed Dora out to the Entrance Hall.  

"Oi! Wait up a second Dora."  

"What!?" She retorted. Her cheeks were flushed with anger.  

"You need to shut your mouth, alright? You've had your fun, but you don't know who you're messing with."  

"You know what Malfoy, tormenting you is pretty much the only fun I get. Seeing as though I only have to bear 8 more months in this hell hole before I graduate, I'm going to do what the fuck I want. You and your lackeys don't scare me, none of you have any serious magical ability, least of all you!"  

Draco drew his wand to curse her. Before he could, Dora raised her own hand and a blast of magical energy blew him off his feet.  

"Pandora! Really you are the last person I would expect this kind of behaviour from!" Said Professor McGonagall coming into the Entrance Hall from the grounds.  

"Fucking insane mudblood" hissed Draco.  

"Although I can't entirely blame you." She said frowning at Draco who was clambering back to his feet.  

"Detention, both of you. This is not the kind of example I expect from 6th and 7th year students. Report to the staff room tomorrow after dinner. We'll see if spending the evening performing menial tasks will help you work through your differences!"  

Dora strode away before Draco had the change to say anything else. Thankful that none of his friends saw him knocked off his feet, he returned to the Great Hall, wondering how Dora had managed to cast the spell before him, he hadn't seen her wand anywhere.  

The following evening Draco arrived at the staff room to find Dora already there knocking on the door. He stood behind her with his arms crossed. Professor McGonagall opened the door.  

"Ah yes, the brawlers. Come with me."  

She led them to a classroom full of what appeared to be piles of splintered wood.  

"As you can see, the 1st years are still getting the hang of basic wand work and they appear to have made quite a mess. I'd like you to repair these... I think they were chairs? You may use magic but I imagine it might be a bit tricky finding which bits go together... I'll be back at 9pm. Good luck!"  

Draco regarded the stacks of splintered wood with a look of annoyance before disregarding them entirely. 

"How did you manage to jinx me before I could jinx you? I drew my wand first." 

"Maybe you're just that bad at it?" 

"I'm 95% sure I didn't see your wand at all!" 

"Well I jinxed you, so I must have had my wand out. Have you tried glasses?" 

"My father has told me about wizards who could perform magic without using a wand, but he said they were really rare."

"I'm sure there's a lot of things many witches and wizards can do that you can't do, doesn't mean it's rare" The corner of her mouth raised in a sly grin. She enjoyed getting his hackles up, especially when he clearly wanted something from her. 

Draco, however, smiled back. 

"Fine, keep your secrets. I doubted you could have any sort of real talent anyway, being what you are." 

"Being what? A half-blood? Do you really believe that rubbish then?" 

"No, I was just hoping you'd tell me your secret to disprove me. I didn't mean to offend you." 

"Your friends and the rest of _our_ house seem to think I'm inferior so why not you Draco?" 

"That's what everyone is saying, isn't it? I've always agreed because I'm a pureblood, it gives me authority over others that I wouldn't otherwise have, so why would I contradict it?"   

"That doesn't answer my question."   

"I don't think you are inferior, no. You can do magic I've not even seen teachers able to do. That's why Flitwick asked you to demo, isn't it? You are doing magic they can't?"   

"So when you get back to the common room tonight and your friends ask you how the detention with the mudblood went, what will you say? And don't deny it, I have been the butt of you and your friend's jokes for years, you hardly hide it." 

"I don't deny it. It used to be immature cruelty to impress each other, but now..." 

"Now you have your _dangerous_ image to maintain." She glanced at his left arm, the dark mark hidden under long sleeves. 

"You're right. It is dangerous. Do you have any idea what would happen to me if my family and their... friends found out I was being friendly with someone who wasn't pureblood?" 

"I imagine it would be similar to not being pureblood yourself." 

"Except you don't have to live with them! And that's if they let you live!" 

After an awkward silence, he continued. 

"But even if I don't have a choice, doesn't mean I believe it. I don't feel that way about you." 

"How do you feel about me Draco?"  She moved towards Draco, looking him in the eye.  

She held her breath, realising what he is about to do. 

"I..." He stuttered, before planting his lips on hers. His skin felt hot on hers and he kissed her hard. She pulls away. He catches his breath and looks down at his feet, afraid to look her in the eye.   

"I'm sorry."   

She reaches her hand up and runs her fingers through his hair from his temple. She moves in closer again. She stands an inch taller than Draco. She bends her head back down to meet his lips. Before they touch she whispers:   

_"Never insult me in public again, or I'll tell them all about what happened to_ _night."_  

It's her turn to kiss him hard. He melts into it but his hands stay at his side, intimidated to reach out and touch her like he did in the dream. When they break apart there is silence between them. 

Dora turned away from Draco and returned to the task at hand. Brought back to his senses, Draco followed suit. Occasionally he sneaked glances at her, dumbstruck at what just happened. 

On the way back to the common room after a rather awkward 2 hours of repairing chairs followed by picking out splinters, Draco finally broke the silence.  

"Aren't we going to talk about it?"   

"About what?"   

"We kissed!"   

"Yeah, we did..." Dora nodded with a stupid grin on her face.   

"I don't get you one bit."   

"What am I supposed to say? Yeah, we kissed! But it doesn't mean anything, does it?" 

"It means something to me." With this he blocked her path, demanding a response.   

"What do you want from me? You know just as well as I do that we can't do anything. Your status and mine don't match, and you don't have a choice in that right now do you?" 

Dora pushed past him. He grabbed her arm as she passed.   

"Dora, if I could..." He pulled her back towards him. Their lips met once more. Not hard like before, but softly pressing together before breaking apart.   

"But you can't".   

She turned and was gone.   


	3. Toying with my emotions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's more going on with Draco than Dora can see. But she can't look any further than how she feels about him...

The hostile looks Dora got in the common room the next day reminded her that nothing had changed. Each time she caught a glimpse of Draco it felt like a tiny dagger had stabbed her in the stomach. Even though she wanted nothing more than to see him, whenever she did it left her feeling worse than she'd felt before.So she decided to avoid him, and the rest of the Slytherins, as much as possible. She threw herself into practicing her hand magic talent whenever she could find a space to be alone. This usually involved scouring the upper floors late in the evening for an out of the way classroom with a low risk of being discovered. During the day finding seclusion was a harder task. Thankfully there was one Slytherin who didn't ostracise her... Their head of house, Professor Snape. 

After a lonely week of trying to dodge Draco, she found herself face to face with him outside Snape's dungeon classroom. The 6th year potions class had just ended and students were filing out as she reached the steps down to the dungeon. As the Gryffindors Harry, Ron and Hermione passed her by she heard Hermione whisper the words "Half-blood" to Harry in a harsh tone. This shocked Dora to hear such a phrase from Hermione who was after all a muggle-born. She considered for a moment that there could be a backlash occurring amongst muggle-borns against purebloods and by extension half-bloods, but she dismissed the idea as ridiculous. All the other houses were an even mix of blood status and Hermione was the last person to turn on her friends for something so petty, especially seeing as though she was rumoured to be in a relationship with Ron Weasley who is a pureblood. At the bottom of the steps, Snape was speaking angrily to Draco. Draco cut him off abruptly saying "it's none of your business!" Before striding up the steps. As he passed Dora their eyes met. He looked anxious and she gave him a conciliatory smile as he passed. Raising an eyebrow to Snape she asked: 

"What was that all about?" 

"Well, apparently it's none of my business so I should hardly deem to make it yours Miss Tighe. How did your detention go last week by the way? 

"Surprisingly amicable actually!" 

She blushed slightly and hoped Snape didn't notice. 

"How did Draco seem to you? Stable, stressed, cocky?" 

"When is Malfoy not cocky? But no, he seemed okay I think." 

"Good..." 

"He may be trying to bite off more than he can chew." 

"Oh yes?" 

"Yes. Flitwick refused to teach him anti-charms after I demonstrated one to the 6th year charms class, so he has taken it upon himself to learn it on his own. Naturally, he failed so he came to me for help, because there is so much I owe him of course." 

"Now that is odd. He taking on extra work for charms when he is failing potions & transfiguration!" 

"He's failing? Jeez!" 

"Well, I can understand the situation if he is spending all his time on charms. If he asks for your help again try to figure out what he is up to will you?" 

"I thought it was none of your business?" 

"The academic performance of one of my students is most certainly my business. Speaking of which, shall we get back to your own extracurricular studies? I have an experiment I'd like to try." 

Snape held the door open for Dora and she stepped through into the dungeon. 2 years previously Snape had caught Dora stirring a potion using hand magic. He was fascinated by her talent and they now met at least twice a week to discuss theory and try out new techniques. He hadn't tried to learn wandless magic himself. He told her that he had come across the subject several years ago and found it to be a talent he did not possess. He theorised that it was a very rare talent, even rarer than the ability to speak parselmouth, and unlike parselmouth he believed it to not be a hereditary skill as he was unable to find sufficient evidence that more than a single member of any one family possessing the skill. With such a small data set he found it hard to extrapolate any common characteristics of witches or wizards able to perform magic without a wand. Dora was the only example of it he had seen in person, the rest were vague references in books written in the last century. 

"Up until now we have tried every kind of magic without a wand, but have you ever tried to perform a spell wandless while holding your wand in the other hand? I'm curious if contact with a wand will divert the flow of magic." 

"No, I've never tried that, although it makes some sense. After all, children first exhibit magic wandlessly but then only in moments of extreme pressure. As soon as you put a wand in their hands the magic flows more freely." 

As the Christmas holidays began to loom, Dora found herself bumping into Draco more and more often without his cronies. He'd appear from behind bookshelves in the library, or he'd be innocently loitering in the hallway near one of her classrooms right about the time her lesson ended. Sometimes he'd do nothing more than smile at her as she walked past. On occasions when he caught her on her own he would walk with her until they arrived in a more populated part of the castle. He liked to tease and flirt with her, and each time she'd shut him down. On the days Dora visited Snape's dungeon as the 6th year lesson was kicking out, Draco would lag behind his classmates. He told Dora he was sure the only reason she was there was to see him and her claim that she was there to see Snape was just a ruse. She had blushed involuntarily in response, as it was true that she had been looking forward to seeing Draco briefly as he left class. She denied this of course but her smile gave her away as much as her red cheeks. 

"Draco! You have to stop this. I am terrible at hiding my emotions!" 

"Oh, and what emotions do you need to hide?" 

He leaned forward and whispered in her ear " _Sexy emotions?_ "  

At this Dora burst into laughter and her cheeks went even redder. Draco laughed too, his expression mischievous to the max. Hearing the ruckus Snape came to the door. Seeing his stern figure sobered Draco immediately.  

Dora spluttered "Hello Professor!" 

Draco brushed Dora's fingers with his before dashing away up the steps. Snape watched Dora carefully as she walked into the dungeon holding the hand that Draco had touched close to her chest. 

Dora didn't see Draco anywhere for the rest of the day. He wasn't at dinner, or in the common room or library. Not that she had been expecting to talk to him or anything, she had simply become hyper-aware whenever he was nearby, she couldn't help glancing over occasionally to see if he was looking at her. She kicked herself at how obvious they were being, if the other Slytherins noticed they would be in serious trouble. She didn't doubt Pansy Parkinson would attack her if she found out that they had kissed! 

That evening, after working in the library until Madam Pince ushered her out, Dora slowly wandered back to the Slytherin common room. She wasn't tired yet and she was loath to spend any time with the other Slytherins so she found herself taking a circuitous route back which involved walking in the wrong direction for a good 10 minutes. Turning a corner she bumped straight into Draco. His eyes were red and he nervously turned away from her. 

"What are you doing? Are you following me?!" He asked angrily. 

"No, I was just wandering the halls!" He looked hurt anyway. "Are you okay? What's happened?" 

"What's happened? What has happened is that I have failed! I can't do this stupid anti-charm and there's nothing I can do!" 

He started walking off, frantically pulling at his hair, panic in his voice. Dora hurried to catch up. 

"Of course you can do the anti-charm. It takes some time and patience but I know you can. It took me weeks to achieve any effect at all." 

Draco slowed his pace so Dora could walk alongside him. He still wouldn't turn his face to meet her but he stopped pulling at his hair. 

"I found that the first step is to perfect the charm you are attempting to reverse." Dora placed her hand gently on Draco's arm. "It's no wonder you haven't seen any results yet if you're trying it on the protean charm!" 

"How did you know I was trying the protean charm?" 

"Oh, I just assumed you wanted to replicate what I demonstrated in class, that's all." 

"Yeah, I was." 

"I can help you if you want to learn so badly?" 

"You'd help me?" Draco spoke quietly, as though he didn't believe what she was saying. 

"Sure, why not! Obviously, it's just because I want the chance to get you on your own again!" 

Draco paused, the glimmer of a smile on his lips. 

"I knew it!" A grin spread across his face. 

"I would do anything for you, Draco" Dora jested. 

Draco turned and looked into Dora's eyes, a slight frown creasing his forehead. Looking around to check there was no one else there, he reached out and took Dora's hand and they walked, hand-in-hand, back to the Slytherin common room.


	4. Alone at Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With everyone home for the holidays, what will Dora and Draco get up to with the common room to themselves?

Dora kicked herself for letting herself get even closer to Draco. She knew it wouldn't end well, but he had been so fragile she couldn't help but treat him with kindness. Besides, he was one of the very few people who were nice to her. It would be stupid to turn him away, as long as no one found out about their friendship they'd be okay.

As the Christmas holidays approached, Dora received an owl from her parents. They had gone into hiding just after Dora had returned to Hogwarts for the beginning of her 7th year. She had hoped they would be able to find a safe hidden location to stay so she could join them there during the holidays. But the owl informed her that this wasn't possible. They had suspicions that they had been spotted by a someone from the wizarding world and had decided to pack up and move again and it was too risky for them to tell Dora where they were just yet. They also thought Dora would be safer at Hogwarts which made Dora snort in disbelief.

At least the other 7th year girls hadn't signed up to stay so she'd have the dormitory to herself. Of course, Draco was staying. She couldn’t blame him for that. All the Slytherins had heard the rumours of what was in the Malfoy's house at the moment. There were a few others staying but not many, and no other 7th or 6th year students. Maybe she could actually spend some time in the common room. She really liked the green light and cozy fireplace, then she remembered Draco would probably be there. She longed to be able to go down and spend time with him. She had enjoyed talking with him, not to mention the kiss.

It was the evening of the Christmas feast before school broke up for holidays. Everyone was chatting about the fun lessons they'd had that day, except the 7th years who didn’t get fun lessons anymore. It hadn’t been a hard day though. The spells they had covered were either already familiar to Dora or were not hard to grasp. She left her last lesson full of regret that she wasn't able to participate in the excitement with the other students. In lessons, she sometimes had good conversations about what they were doing that day but as soon as the lessons ended they stopped talking to her. She could have tried to make friends with members of other houses but they didn’t trust her and it only made the situation with the Slytherins worse. During the feast, Dora took the opportunity to watch the other students. She considered the fate of Harry Potter, she could hardly feel bad for herself when he was said to have to face the Dark Lord someday. The Dark Lord had already tried to kill him more than once.

_At least he's not alone_ , she thought. 

She glanced over to Draco and saw that he had been looking at her. His expression showed exactly how she felt, miserable, even though he was surrounded by 'friends'.

The next day she took advantage of the empty library. Snape had given her a pass to the restricted section to research hand magic further. Although there were very few documented cases of witches or wizards able to cast spell without a wand, she thought she might find something useful. Wanting to avoid the awkwardly empty dining hall (in which she would surely find Draco) she skipped dinner not returning to the common room until after midnight. Entering the common room, she was hit by the burning smell of fire whisky. Draco was passed out in a chair by the fire which was burnt down to embers and was casting an eerie red glow in the normally green room. The empty bottle lay on the floor next to his chair. 

_How had he even gotten it?_

She shook his shoulders gently, trying to rouse him, nothing. His face looked so peaceful without the creases of a frown he normally wore. With barely a gesture Dora levitated his unconscious form and guided it up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. She laid Draco down on top of the covers of one of the beds in the 6th year dormitory. She assumed this one was his because it had a Nimbus 2001 propped up behind it.

"Dora?" She heard as she reached the door to leave.

"Dora, is that you?"

She sighed. "Yes Draco, it's me."

"I'm sorry for kissing you."

And she'd thought there was something between them, she must have been stupid.

"Of course you are. Good night Draco."

That last bit had an angry tone, and she didn't shut the door softly on her way out.

The next morning Draco woke up fully clothed with a banging headache. He was on top of his bedclothes with no recollection of how he got there. He remembered drinking fire whisky downstairs... He panicked and leaped out of bed shakily. If a teacher found that bottle he'd be in so much trouble! Racing down the stairs he ran head first into Dora. She scowled at him. The room spun around and he clutched his head in pain.

"Are you enjoying your hangover?" She said at a cruelly loud volume.

He groaned and stumbled over to the chair he had been occupying last night, he couldn't see the bottle anywhere. Then he realised what Dora had said.

"Wait? Did you see me last night?"

"How do you think you got to bed last night? You were hardly in any condition to get there on your own. Don't worry, I cleared up the evidence for you."

She started to walk away.

"Wait! I want to talk to you!"

"No Draco, you made your feelings pretty clear last night."

As she stomped out of the common room, Draco wracked his brains to remember what he had said last night, but he couldn't even remember finishing the bottle. He trudged up the many staircases to the Room of Requirement. No guards were needed with the castle so empty, and no one could get in anyway. He didn't even attempt to work on the cabinet, he just sat down on a pile of old robes and wept. He couldn't do this. And now Dora was mad at him for some unknown reason, he couldn't blame her, he was mad at himself too, and he didn't deserve her forgiveness anyway. He fell back to sleep on the floor where he lay, rather than head back to the dungeons. 

He dreamt of floating, the world spinning around him. He saw Dora's face and felt a surge in his chest as he looked at her. The look in her eyes showed so much pain, pain he had caused. He felt so bad about it.

"I'm sorry for kissing you" he blurted.

Her sadness turned to anger at his words. He tried to speak, to explain but the world darkened around him and his words were lost.

He woke up in a panic, she thought he didn't like her! That couldn't be farther from the truth. He raced back to the common room but when he arrived it was empty. He checked his watch. It was 2am, she'd be in bed and there was no way of getting up to her dorm without an alarm going off. He took a shower and went to bed, thinking of what he could say to her to make it right. 

A couple of hours later he woke with a start, someone was in his dormitory. Sat on the bed next to him was Dora, she was watching him.

"I'm sorry Draco. I wanted to give you a piece of my mind but when I got here you were sleeping and I felt bad waking you, I'll go."

"No, wait!"

He sat up and held out his arm to block her path.

"Please will you talk to me, I want to explain."

"This is going to be good..."

"Look, you don't understand. What I said... I meant, that I..." This was much harder than it had been in his head. "I don't regret kissing you. Of course, I don't. Hell, it was amazing! I regret hurting you, by not disagreeing when you said I thought non-purebloods were inferior. I don't, I swear it. Dora... I can't stop thinking about you. It's driving me crazy!"

"It's driving you crazy? You are messing with me Draco! We can't do this, we can't!"

"Then why are you here Dora? It's 4 in the fucking morning and if I could have got into your dorm hours ago I would have! I know we can't, but that doesn't appear to mean we won't, does it?"

"We still have a fucking choice, we're not under the Imperius curse or anything! It's stupid and dangerous. Just forget about me and don't talk to me again. I won't come back here and that will be that. I'll be gone in May and then we never have to see each other again!"

Tears were flooding down her cheeks as she got up to leave. Draco scrambled out of bed and threw himself at the door.

"Let me go." She whispered.

"I can't let you go without kissing you one more time."

With the door blocked Dora was trapped. She punched the wood to the left of Draco's head and turned away. She sat down heavily on Draco's bed.

"You think this is painful now? What about when everyone comes back from holiday and we can't risk being seen together? There's nowhere we can safely hang out. We can't even acknowledge each other in the corridors. Wouldn't it be better to walk away now?"

"That would be the smart thing to do."

Draco sat down next to Dora. He put his hand on top of hers resting on the bedsheets between them.

"Imagine what it would be like Dora. If we could go down to the Great Hall for breakfast together."

"We could go for a walk in the snowy grounds. We could make out under the willow trees."

"We could hang out in the common room, you helping me with my homework. Me, helping you to cheer up a bit."

Dora moved her hand from under Draco's and pushed herself up the bed and laid down on the pillow.

"I'd have a selection of excellent insults ready for anyone who commented on us being together."

Draco moved up and laid down next to her staring up at the ceiling.

"And I'd have a jinx ready."

"I could use hand magic and if I get caught I'll hold my hands up and say 'but I don't even have my wand!'"

Laughing they turned to face each other.

"We would find a secluded spot and be alone together. No one else in our way"

"Nothing to hold us back."

Their lips met, hot and soft. Their breaths came in shudders with the intensity of their touch. Nervously Draco ran his hand from Dora's shoulder down the length of her arm, fingers gently brushing her bare skin. She responded by wrapping her arm under his and around his back, pulling him in closer. They kissed deeper, bodies pressed together. Once their lips finally broke apart their eyes met.

"Can I sleep here tonight?"

"Of course"

Draco brushed the hair back from Dora's face and wrapped his arms around her, holding her gently.

"Thanks for not letting me walk away".

The next morning Draco waited in the common room for Dora while she showered and got dressed. He nervously wandered around the room occasionally sitting down in a different chair before getting up moments later. His head snapped around as soon as he heard her footsteps coming up the stairs. He broke out into a grin as he stood up and reached out a hand.

"None of that," She said, batting his hand away. "We can go down to breakfast together but as soon as we step through that door we are nothing more than unfriendly acquaintances. Got it?"

"I've got it."

He grabbed the hand she had just shooed him away with and pulled her closer.

"Outside that door, right?" He said before pulling her into a kiss. It was hard to kiss properly because the surprise of it had made her laugh, which made him laugh too and they had to stop. Grinning like idiots they left the common room. It was hard to keep a straight face as they entered the Great Hall. As soon as they saw the small table set up in the middle of the room full of other students who had elected to stay over the holidays. There were only 2 seats left, next to each other on the far side of the table, unfortunately, next to the Gryffindors Ron, Hermione, and Harry. Draco gave Dora a wink before he shoved her into the seat next to Hermione.

"You sit there Pandora, they are more  _your_ people, aren't they?"

His words sounded deliberately cruel. Even though she knew he was putting it on, she still felt that familiar lurch of pain in her stomach reminding her that she didn't belong.


End file.
